Automobile-signal



W. B. THOMPSON AUTOMOBILESIGNAL. APPLICATION FILED JULY 24, ms.

3 SHEETS -SHEET,

Patented Feb. 24, 1920.

W. B. THOMPSON.

AUTOMOBILE SIGNAL.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 24, I928.

Patented Feb. 24,1920.

- a SHEETS-SHEET 2.v

W hqm :B-Th

W. B. THOMPSON.

AUTOMOBILE SIGNAL.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 24. 19IB.

1,331,832. Patented Feb. 24,1920.

. appertains to make TE S T S OFFICE;

AUTOMOBILE-SIGNAL.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, VV :IAi r 13. Team.

son, a citizen ofthe at Los Gates, and State of California, have invented certa'in new and useful Improvements in Automobile-Signals; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,- and exact d scription of the inventiomsuchas will enable, others skilled in the art to which it and usethe same.

United States, residing This lnvention relates to, automobile signals, and has for its prime object to} pro.-

vide a noveland improvedsignal of; this character which can be easily and; con

3 veniently operated by the driver to indicate meanswhi 11 may 7 indicate the intentio t tu orflstopeatv the fact. that he intends to steer thevehiele o on i e o sto gx.v

A further -ob ectofthe invention is to provide t e ignal-wi no el i umi a n be used whenv desired to" night. I v v b With these and other ob ects inview as will appear as the descriptionproceeds, the

' invention comprises the various novel fea;

tures ofconstruction, combination and an ran ement of parts as will be fully de-' scri ed hereinafter. and afterward specifi cally claimed.

Referring to the drawings, 7 s Figure 1 represents a front elevation of, the signals supported upon the vehicle dashboard, one of said signalshaving been jactu ated to indicate turning to theright.

, Fig. EZ-represents a side elevation of the signal arranged in inoperative position- Fig. 3 represents. avertical sectional vievs u ne f g l ev ceame Pa -S thereof being arranged in actuated or in} dicating position. 7 7

Fi 4 ep esen si ec nalb n w -L dicated by the line H011 Fig. 3.

ing theparts in normal position.

Fig. 5 represents asimilar View shovv Wind shield and since each of these devices l are identical inconstruction and niethod of operation, it is believed that al detail 1d?- scription of one will sufiice for both.

In order that the construction and. opera o Of he gn ay e read ly comma ded by thos k d n the. at, to which he ve ti n re ates, I. ha e il u tr tedth preferred ee edimeatef the. inventi n n in the county ofSantaClara sc enee d om Mem s i -MR proceed t 11. ly

e eh cle das pon the uppcridge' fspec incatioh of Letters gatentn Patented 192( V u Appliqation mama 24, 191 .8; Serrano, 45,4 2. i

w awwmw we:

nectiqn with sai awings; in which 1 which'is mounted a cushion str1p12.

supporting bar. 3' rom e end f th s gper ingi bar. 3 and arr s a its 1 pper n, whi h h sy'it's pcftured an fiTno iti nc f'evex theupper endofthe, ost L'. f1

Afcollar, 7 isl threacli a lamb bracket 5/ ed, we the i nr an:

h l ow po t-'1 rises Qflth pest andfie ve t hol fl ebr ckcfiu, l

n itien Pen t 'a in l P 9. s a i l wr Q p'thm dedly an I t pro; socket 10 intd which is. r

l Qd {0 i 3 pp 1nd 0 t e" post and vided with a central M threaded the lower end, of a: standard 11 which rises upwardly and is provided yvith n apert i pper. end-later aa hmac t6 the-vehicle top is. This cqnn'ect bn an, be

amine &

a e; n y Su e Qt l vel f iewn man 91:;

whereby. e o? an be qui kly We y? nd ngbr cke a m *llt ",vo al y S p rt the. ind s ine aia a p int n ermed a e es a91- he s a dard- The equa int med e h endsof t sup br ilg ar 3 as. eary Shawn n, F e- 1: aid switchbox being connected t ch f hef' pdsts,

v a tubu arx asi g 17 AL ctu t g lever 165: is ivcta y l t d; sia -l gfin each ed at c s t h b9; and m dies. a qiiaar a r eral segm nt l A .linwz'ismquiaed with n uglth 1 jugh he 'tubuhr .7

ii ably moun ed thihthe inn e d 23 switch box and in such armanner as t9 re eiveth s gment 20- The e her: e'n f dfi in s Idispo datae e; ea 2% an i pivotally c e ted as a 5" o a egment a r V 26 fixed on. t lo er, end .Q -i a Q-Qk. shaft 5 m u ted W inth po$ a4E1 8, s a ear? 11g Plate m n e in the support her a .3.

and thr u h W dithe ower dimed. 9nd 9 ,The'bracketarm 5 supports a signal indi a ed as a wh e y he ettesle and a dire tion ed ate l- The amp name by a: plurali y" cispme tibia:

bottpmlin any Manama y net silots 9 th i es Part 34 hich may e'de ach hlymm 1 tween two ofwhich is detachably mounted an opaque shield 38 providedcentrally with a translucent piece of glass 39, preferably red, which is normally positioned, toward" the inside of the vehicle. ,Clear, transparent Y panes "Of glass 40*are detachably mounted bottom 33 and is provided centrally a 'betweenthe other bars 37' so'as to give a clear view to the visual signal "mechanism" mqu edr ithi flth la p- Aiwooden'basej4 is-mounted Within the" with abearing plate 42.- A lamp cage is to tatably mounted within the lamp casing and 7 comprises a bottom 43 and a top 44 con- .nected'byrods45 and an opaque shield 46.

, providedcentrally with a translucent piece i rear of the vehicle.

of afortheelectric light wires. A white electric lamp 49 is mounted on the bottom 43 of the c'a'ge' while'a red lamp 50 is suspended from lar casing 54 carried by the top of thelainp:

ca ng "and into a; housing 55 rotatably which-latter is threadedly connected to the of n lass 47ipreferably green, which is nor: mally positionedto indicate clear to the (I The opposite vertical side edges} of thejshield 46 are rolled, as at 48, see Figs. 4 and 5, to provide a casing the' topv 44 w a a ,51 indicates a"bearing;mounted on the top 44 and receives the lower end of a shaft 52, saidishaft'being detachably mounted withinthe bearing by a set-screw 53. This shaft- 52 extends upwardly through a tubumountedontheiu perfend of thecasing 54.- A bevel gear 56 s fixed to the upper end of the tubular casing 54 andmeshes with a loosely journaled...in a bearing block 59,

upper end of the shaft 52, so as to rotate with it'; The, upper end of the bearing block is (iournaledin. the top of the Qhousmg 5 5 an *is provided with an ornamental cap60i The opposite. ends of the shaft 58 extend through. thewalls of the housing 55,,"one of said ends being providednwith an arrow tail pieceGIQwhiIe the 'o'theris provided witha'n garroiw head-piece 62.

The direction'i'ndicator arrow is" adapted to normally lieiin' a horizontal plane, 'as' indicated in Figs. 1 and2, but by virtue of the pi particular construction just described, it will be apparent that when the shaftf52 is rocked a uarter of aturn that thearrow :will swing. fromjja horizontal ,to a vertical 55 osition in :itslmovement of a quarter of a revolution}, Thebottom 43 of the cage isprovided centrally with a boss -63 h avinga reduced trunnion 164 1 oursalea through a; bearing plate '65 j' mounted in the base41. The bot toiiiii43isfalso provided with an oblong recessi fififwhic'h receives a pin 67 carried by the outer endo'ffa'n arm"68f fixed on the upper end. of the rock" shaft 27 "so that each time the smashes-is actuated by the lever 18, a corresponding movement be im- -pa1'ted .to the lamp cageand the direction indicator arrow mounted .on thetop of the lam casing.

-T e construction ofithe signal device as just-described is simply used in the-day time to signal to pedestrians or automobiles the I direction --'in whichlthe driver intends to steer his machine, but at night the electri-f cal illuminating" eans within theglainp casing is adapted'to be used by the closing of suitable electric-switch. I I i The shield 46, is normally behind the lamps, so that the white light'passesthrough glass 47 to indicate clear to thetrafiic' in rear,

and when the operator desires to turn or stop,Ithe' 1ever 18is swung so'as'to'turn the shield toward that side of the'casing ad jaccnt-to-the vehicle body thereby exposing the lamps tothe rear. for indicating danger, when the iampso is lighted The signal member 621 normally projects forward infaf horizontal'po sition when the shield 46 is in; V 7 its reargposition, and "when the shieldls turned for. signaling danger, the signal member 62 is swung outwardly with theshield,

and is turned on it s axis to. a verticalj posi tlon, as 'seenin Fig. 37.1 IWhentheleVer'lS is returned, e shield anatnpperisigha mem i 5 The bottoinof eachlamp casing 15p ii Yided With an electric lamp 8'? whichyis so' her are also returned tonormal positiongf positioned 'that it W111; when lighted, throw its rays on therunning-board of the vehicle,[. 5 v

clearly see where-they are stepping get so as to enableoccupants ofthe vehicle to ting in or out ofthe-vehicle.

What I claim is r 1. A vehi le Signal b d i n t -Qa-Sing I having transparent sides, and a side to be 7 disposed next to the side ofthe vehicle and p provided with a transparent" portion, a cage mounted for turning movementlwithin the casing about a vertlcal ax s and' nclu'ding a base, atop and a shield connecting them, said shield having a transparent portion'to be moved into registration with" the ja'fore; V

parent portion. a i 2.. In a vehicle. signal, avlanip casing, 'a

- cage mounted for rotation thereinand hav mg a shield, a lamp withinjthe cage, a direc vthe first named trans-c i tion indicator having itsface in horizontal position mounted on the cage to turn 'with. it and to rotate topresentits face in vertical position, means between said indicator, and

casing for rotating the indicator to present with the cage to a different position, and

its facein vertical position when it is turned 3. In a vehicle signal, a lamp casinghav ing three transparent sides and a side to be mounted next to the side of the vehicle an oscillatorycage pivotally mounted in the lamp casing and comprising a base, a top, rods connecting said top an d base, an opaque shield also connecting said'top-and base and a carrying a translucent member, lamps cara and base, one of said lamps being red, said shield being normally behind said lamps, and manually operable means for oscillating said cage to swing the shield to one sice to expose the red signaling lamp. 1

a. In a signaling device, a lamp casing having transparent sides, an open sided cage pivotally mounted in said lamp casing,

ried by said top lamps carried by the cage and of different colors, a shield carried by the cage and normally in rear of said lamps,

move it to one side from in rear of the lam s,

a direction indicator havingits face in hori- T supporting supporting tion wlth said post, a rock shaft rotatably manually operable means for oscillatin said cage to with itand rotate to presentits face in vertical position, and means for rotating the indicator to present its face in vertical position whenthe shield is moved fromin rear of the lamps.

5. A vehicle signal comprising a support i11 bar mounted upon the vehicle dash,a tubular post rising from one end of said bar, a housing mounted on said bar and having-tubular connecmounted'in said post, a rotatable signal supported by the upper end of said post, a connection between said signal and said rock shaft, a lever mounted in said housing-and a connection between said lever and said rock shaft through said tubular housing con nection, whereby the signal maybe rotated ,upon actuation of'said lever.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to thls specification 1n the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

WILLIAM B. "THOMPSON; 3

" Witnesses v e W. THORNE,

A. RIGGS. 

